


THE INTERROGATION

by clownpostur



Category: Ratchet & Clank
Genre: F/M, Ratchet and Clank Movie, dr nefarious, dr nefarious x elaris, elaris - Freeform, hahaha uhhhhhhhhhhh, nefarious being an edgelord as always, nefaris, pickle time, rooomance draaamaaaa yeaaaaaahaaaaaaaw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-09-12
Updated: 2020-09-12
Packaged: 2021-03-06 22:02:23
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,688
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26416108
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/clownpostur/pseuds/clownpostur
Summary: Nefaris one-shot fanfic I wrote months ago and decided to upload. It's not much but anything to sate the rare Nefaris shippers out there... ;9Based off of a cut bit of the Ratchet movie script-- there was an actual cut scene where Elaris went to interrogate Nefarious and I think it's a tragedy we never got to see it. So here's a shippy interpretation of it. This fic goes along with my personal canon where Elaris and Nefarious worked together as tech support for the Galactic Rangers, bonded and yada yada yada. I just think it's cute, adds for some drama and all that.Also, because I know way too much about this cursed movie, I included the cut Ranger named Stig too. He was supposed to be Elaris' love interest in the original script apparently but I ain't having none of that nooo give me the pickle boy
Relationships: Elaris & Dr. Nefarious, Elaris/Dr. Nefarious
Comments: 1
Kudos: 3





	THE INTERROGATION

"...There. Good as new… Almost as if your arm was never horrifically crushed up in the first place. Feeling any better big guy?" Elaris pushed the bio-bliterator aside as she took a better look at Brax's arm. He was sitting in the medical pod, eyes wide with wonder at the mystical device that had healed him.

" _Sick._ Yeah. I'm good!" Brax replied enthusiastically, donning an entire mechanical arm now. He was not frightened in the slightest, although that could not be said for all Rangers.

The Rangers had returned from a relatively successful raid. "Relatively" because Brax lost his arm, but they had also succeeded in one major and incredible way-- they had captured Dr. Nefarious. The lunatic in the flesh, responsible for a good handful of crimes now, with Brax's arm being added to that list. Needless to say they were all pretty stoked, Nefarious was elusive and catching him was a pleasant surprise. However, the whole destroyed arm deal seemed to spoil their moods. 

"Is he gonna be okay?" Ratchet asked the others quietly, unable to tear his eyes from Brax's arm. Clank stood beside him, fascinated by the whole ordeal.

"Oh, yes, yes. That device there is called a _bio-bliterator_. Ironically, created by the very man responsible for…" Stig made an incoherent noise and dipped his head awkwardly towards Brax and his new arm. "What a terrible coincidence, right..? Elaris is very good with it. I think the Doctor taught her or something back when he still worked here."

"It was fortunate you did not suffer anything worse," Clank remarked as he examined Brax's new arm. The small defected warbot was fascinated. "Doctor Nefarious could have killed you."

The whole group seemed to tense up even at the mere mention of his name. Of course, Elaris tensing up for entirely different reasons.

"He's a lucky guy, that's for sure." Stig watched Elaris almost longingly as she double checked Brax for any other injuries.

"Ugh, that _rat_ ," Cora was glowering at the brig's entrance across the hall. "From the moment we hired him-- I knew we never should have trusted him! I TOLD you guys something was up with him! I mean come on! His name is NEFARIOUS! How was that not a huge red flag?! You know what-- I say we shoot off one of his arms, make it even." 

"Violence will not solve anything, Ms. Veralux," Clank said quickly. The others mumbled in silent disagreement, all except Elaris, who gave Clank a rather thankful glance.

"Cora, I'm fine. I like my robot arm!" Brax exclaimed, waving jovially with his new appendage.

Cora brushed him aside and scoffed. "He was supposed to be dead, anyways. Whatever happened to him dying in a prison escape, Captain...uh, _Captain_?" 

Qwark was occupied, fiddling with his suit in silence until he realized he was being spoken to. Very quickly he straightened up, and puffed out his chest in his typical "heroic" stance. He cleared his throat.

"Oh, yes! And so we thought! But, as it turns out, our adversary is a little more complex than we anticipated! He's been... prowling and…. Sneaking!" Qwark's answer did not help much of anything. 

The Rangers looked around with exasperated eyes, unsure of how to proceed at this point. They began coming to their own private conclusions.

"Well, whatever, it doesn't matter now. All I know is _someone's_ gonna have to talk to him. Or better yet, beat it out of him. To which I happily volunteer." 

"CORA! We already said no violence! This isn't supposed to be a torture session!" It was rare for Elaris to speak up in group discussions, but she seemed particularly concerned this time around. "Besides… you guys already beat him up plenty when you arrested him."

Reluctantly, Cora went quiet, letting the subject go cold. In her silence it was clear she was quite upset, still glancing occasionally at Brax's new arm with contempt. Everybody had been worried for Brax's condition and reasonably peeved for what the Doctor had done, but Cora was _especially_ aggravated.

"I'm all for punching and shooting, but for once… I have to agree with Elaris. Nefarious is nuts. I bet he'd probably ENJOY torture!" Brax managed to pitch in with his thoughts to the conversation despite being so distracted by his arm. He had adjusted remarkably fast.

With such a thought, the Rangers collectively grimaced, no longer wanting to consider torture an interrogation method. 

"Well, this is just great then." Cora sulked, arms crossed as she leaned back against the wall. "So… what exactly is our plan here?"

The awkward silence seemed to answer that question. It became blatantly obvious how unprepared they had been. Truth be told, nobody was expecting to capture Nefarious that evening. It was a bit of a…. Bittersweet surprise.

A few of their eyes were caught darting between each other, hoping that someone, anyone had at least an iota of an idea.

"I'll talk to him." Elaris' sudden and (surprisingly) stern statement had thrown everybody off. They gawked at her. _Elaris_ was going to talk to one of the galaxy's most wanted criminals? _ELARIS?_ Please...

"You're kidding," Cora was staring down Elaris with heavily skeptical eyes. " _You_ want to talk to Dr. Nefarious? _One on one_? No offense, but you're not really…" Cora made a vague sort of gesture at Elaris.

"Now hold on," Qwark interjected, his interest in the topic suddenly revived. "Our dear Elaris might just have a point here! Think about it! Who else spent countless hours crammed in that closet-- err office-- with him? Like, a LOT of time. Kind of nonstop actually... Literally forever. Hardly saw them ever. Shared the same tiny bed even! If anybody knows our enemy, it's her." 

"Wait, they wha--"

"Eeeexactly! ELARIS! She did all of that! And that's why she is going to talk to this fiend of ours." And Qwark gave Elaris a hard pat on the back, nearly knocking the wind out of her 

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Clank sounded worried, and with good reason.

"Who knows what he could do to you…" Cora's eyes were switching between Brax's arm and Elaris.

"Maybe I should come with you," Stig insisted. It was safe to assume Qwark's comments from earlier had worried him. If his crush on Elaris hadn't been obvious enough, it was now. "We don't want him to--"

"No! I mean, no-- I'll be fine," Elaris had begun pressing her way through the others. "Captain is right. I know Nefarious better than anybody. If I'm going to talk to him, it has to be just me..."

Crippling silence. 

Elaris wondered if she had made it too apparent how eager she was to talk to him.

"Well, go get em tiger!" Qwark encouraged her, and he gave her a violent shove toward the hall.

"Be careful, Elaris…" warned Clank.

"If you need any help, we'll be right here!" Ratchet nodded.

"Don't hesitate to beat the ever-living--" Cora was cut off.

"You got this!" Brax chirped.

Stig didn't say anything. He only stared at her with glossy eyes, the emotion in his face not entirely readable. Worried, for sure, but there had been other things… anger? Jealousy? It was uncertain. They weren't good things, whatever they were.

Elaris was a bit embarrassed now. She grinned sheepishly in response. It was the most appreciated she had felt in a while. Her thoughts and ideas were typically skimmed over.

"..Thanks, guys."

As she walked past the others and down the hall to what felt like certain death, she picked up on the group's murming.

"Should we head to the observation room?" Someone asked quietly. Stig, probably.

"No, let her be. What these two need is a little alone time. Trust me cadet! I know." She heard Qwark say.

"...What?"

Elaris could feel the group's piercing eyes, burrowing through the back of her skull as she punched in the brig's keycode. She took no final glances as she slipped in the entry, only letting the thick metal door screech shut behind her. There was no turning back now. She was in there with _him._

She observed the room briefly in all of its dim lit glory, split in half by observation glass that kept them apart. She could hardly see, making out the shape of a cot on the other side, and various basic things. The silhouette that sat there was all too familiar. She felt sick, suddenly.

She pressed a button, and the room was immediately illuminated by a hazy blue light. She could see him as clear as day, leaning back on his cot and grinning at her. It was that grin, that stupid grin, that had always sent her into a flustered frenzy. She hated herself for it. Elaris shook her head and got a grip on herself. 

Nefarious was pretty torn up, his broken glasses off to the side, revealing his black eye and bruises. Capturing him was a success yes, not expected either. But it was definitely not easy...

"Well if it isn't my protege," his voice reminded her very much of a snake. "Still working out of the broom closet?"

"We were partners," Elaris said coolly, glaring at him through the glass. "I never saw either of us as a protege to the other."

"Mmm, perhaps you're right! After all, if you were my protege you would have heeded my advice and left this dump ages ago."

"Well, sorry that I wanted to keep my job and a roof over my head." Elaris retorted quickly.

"Even when that 'roof' is a stuffy ship where you're surrounded by imbeciles who couldn't even be bothered to give you a suitable work environment and pay?" Elaris could tell this conversation was going nowhere. Nefarious was a stubborn man, his grudge with the Galactic Rangers set in stone. Always had been.

Elaris growled in frustration.

"Fine, fine! You're right! The conditions suck here and everybody's a jerk like-- eighty percent of the time! Happy?"

Nefarious was lying back on his cot and stretching his arms. "Ehh, a little," he hissed. "I must say, I was surprised they sent _you_ here. I expected Qwark or some other insufferable moron. Typically, they send brainless muscle maniacs to conduct interrogations, don't they? Not the cute little technical support-- but might I say? I am very intrigued to see how you plan on torturing me."

"I'm not going to hurt you," Elaris stared down at him through the glass as he continued stretching his arms. He was bored, that was obvious. A mad scientist, trapped in a small prison room with none of his little scientist toys. He had only been in there for a few hours but she was sure he was already losing his mind.

Nefarious sat up to make proper eye contact with her again. That stupid grin was back on his face (albeit much more subtle this time) and Elaris felt like she might die. It was a bit too much.Nefarious tilted his head again and squinted at her.

Elaris watched as he winced for a moment, in some pain from his injuries no doubt, before he continued on. Elaris gritted her teeth.

"What a shame," he was looking her up and down as if he might find some other answer. "What is this then? Just a casual visit?"

"No! I'm still interrogating you! I'm… here to ask you questions, minus the torture." Elaris hoped the blush on her face was not too visible. She felt so embarrassed. She was nowhere near prepared to talk to him again, let alone see him. She needed at least-- well like, a week to figure out everything she wanted to say. Or a few weeks. Possibly a month? Maybe month _s_.

Nefarious laughed quietly to himself. "As if that would assist the Galactic Morons in anything. I'm almost certain you already know everything about me, my motives, my drive. I'd like to see what else you could--"

"Why are you doing this?" Elaris blurted out.

"Let's try being a little more specific."

"All of this! You-- you tried to murder them! In fact, you tried to kill a lot of people-- were you _really_ going to atomize Aleero City?" Elaris had a hard time putting it in words. She couldn't comprehend wanting to take someone's life, whether innocent or a notorious villain. It had always… Unnerved her. 

And seeing the sweet lab partner she had once known devolve into a bloodthirsty scientist was too much. She knew what he wrote in those holo-journals, the toll the Rangers took on him, but she still didn't get it. It was such a drastic step. He suffered from something, that was for sure, but what? She didn't know.

"People die everyday. It's no different. I'm merely speeding up the process which the laws of nature have set for us." Nefarious' nonchalant reply made Elaris' blood boil. Death didn't phase him. Nor did the threat of pain, or anything of the sort. She was appalled, and yet, still fascinated by him. Intrigued by him. 

"Nefarious! You're. _Killing_. PEOPLE!" 

"I believe we've already established that."

Elaris groaned. This STUPID pickle man. He was horrible, that was true, but she couldn't shake those old feelings for him still. How was it she wanted to both slap AND kiss his horrible green face? 

"You're awful." She said in a defeated voice. She leaned against the glass and stared hopelessly at the floor. "What happened to you?"

"Oh, just countless years of emotional torment. Starts to affect you after a while," Nefarious snickered bitterly. She heard him sigh. "You know what, this all reminds me of a _Lance and Ja--_ ACK!" 

Elaris whipped around, finding Nefarious hunched over on the cot, clutching his head. He gritted his teeth for a moment, and then stopped. Elaris couldn't help but be concerned. She pressed her face against the glass and looked at him with a partially worried face.

"They got you pretty good, didn't they?" She frowned.

Nefarious winced as he spoke, squinting up at Elaris with only one eye open. His tone was cold and nasty. "You might say that." 

Elaris eyed the room's control panel, mounted up on the far left wall. She watched it in hesitant silence.

"I can't believe I'm actually doing this," Elaris whispered, her fingers pressing several buttons on the panel with great uncertainty. Nefarious didn't even have time to respond before the glass had sunk down into the floor, leaving the space completely open between them. Now tension was really in the air.

Nefarious didn't move, instead, only watching Elaris' every move as she made her way toward him. She approached him slowly, like someone might a wild animal. Even Elaris could notice the way Nefarious' body went rigid. He wasn't expecting this at all.

She had pulled out a small medical kit from a hidden drawer in the wall, placing it beside herself as she sat down on the cot. She scooted closer to him. _Great._ Hopefully he didn't notice how nervous she was.

"What? What are you doing?" Nefarious almost sounded distressed. Surely, not over the medical kit. She knew such things didn't bother him, including pain to an extent. That's when Elaris knew he was probably just as flustered as she was. That gave her a boost of confidence. 

"Tending to your injuries, what else?" 

"... _Why?_ "

"Can't continue an interrogation if the person being questioned is too busy keeling over in pain to answer questions."

Nefarious was quiet, and unmoving as Elaris sat so closely beside him. She had pulled out a small cloth (which she dampened with the provided drinking fountain in the room) and pressed it gently against one of the larger bloodied cuts on his face. Nefarious flinched again as she made contact with his skin.

"Always prepared, you were…" Nefarious spoke through lightly clenched teeth.

Elaris didn't respond. She only focused on his wounds, dabbing the cut several more times until the blood was eventually gone.

A small grin was returning to Nefarious' face again, although less confident-- Elaris _knew_ he was nervous. Poor man was clueless in romantic scenarios-- not that this situation was romantic or anything like that……….aha…………...

"I don't understand why you even bother with me. You know who I am, the atrocities I have committed. Had you any sanity yourself you'd stay away. Or at least, kill me. Yet you still…" he trailed off, lost. Elaris felt a pit growing in her stomach. She wondered the same exact things.

"I'm not condoning any of the heinous things you do," she hissed, getting slightly more aggressive with her wound cleaning. "Let's get that straight, okay? I think it's beyond horrific. I wish you would just _stop_ it. I HATE it. But unlike you, I have a moral compass and would rather see you alive and healthy. I don't know, hoping that if I'm lucky you'll..." She trailed off. Who was she kidding? 

Nefarious looked dubious as he watched Elaris grab a bandaid. This was all very weird to him, still. She placed it carefully over his cut, feeling his skin beneath her bare hand again.

"Geez. I bet you've been having some killer headaches..." Elaris was looking at his black eye, the thin yellow slit that stared back at her amongst the bruised purple skin.

"Migraines, actually. But I don't mind them all that much, they're incentives to stay awake. Sleep is merely a hindrance." 

Elaris rolled her eyes, snatching an ice pack and now pressing it against his bad eye. Nefarious' breath hitched as soon as he felt its icy touch, but his shoulders slumped as he began to relax somewhat again.

They sat there, quiet as Elaris held the ice pack against Nefarious' face. She tried not to look at him, although she knew he was watching her, waiting for something. A decent amount of time had passed before anyone spoke again. 

"Why didn't you come with me?" Nefarious broke the silence with a soft, almost innocent tone. It was the last question Elaris expected, a complete shift in tone. She slowly put down the ice pack and looked at him sadly.

"To tell you the truth I… don't know," she said quietly. "I wanted to… be with you… but I knew what you were going to do."

Nefarious' ear twitched.

"Did you now?" His quiet tone was increasing in hostility.

Elaris narrowed her eyes. 

"You wanted to hurt people, and kill them. I didn't. And I still don't. Never will. The whole villain thing? No thank you..." 

In the returning silence, Elaris went back to pressing the ice pack against Nefarious' eye. She noticed the sudden and odd, cold look in his eye.

"You're weak." He hissed, disgusted. There he went again with the drastic tonal shift.

Now usually, such a comment would have deeply hurt Elaris. However, this time, Elaris felt… legitimately angry? Perhaps she had already been worked up dealing with Nefarious… she felt like he was rubbing off on her already. Fantastic.

Elaris dropped the pack elsewhere, not taking her eyes off Nefarious. 

" _What_?"

As the anger rose in Elaris' voice, a hint of a smile was growing on Nefarious' face. Almost as if he LIKED to see Elaris mad or something… weird….

Nefarious stood up and brushed himself off, and Elaris quickly followed suit. They faced each other. Tension! Drama! It was all there!

"You made the poor decision of staying behind and continuing to allow all of these morons to squander your talents. You claim you wanted to keep your job, but let's face it. You're more of a prisoner than I am." 

Elaris scoffed. "Yeah. I'M the one who made a 'poor decision.' I'm not aimlessly roaming the galaxy for a sense of purpose while plotting murder fantasies." 

"And what are you? Tech support for a group that hardly even acknowledges you?" 

"Who cares what I am?? You're the homicidal maniac here!"

"You're a pushover. A door-mat. You let them walk all over you!"

Above all else, that comment alone had infuriated Elaris beyond anything else he had said. She threw her hands up dramatically as she spoke. 

"No I'm NOT! It's called being kind and patience! Unlike you I actually tolerate people before I try to kill them."

"Wuss."

"Psychopath!"

"Moron!"

"Jackass!"

The two were fuming, both sharing the same hatred for one another as they stood there in silent anger. Who knows what kind of horrible thoughts that ran through their heads, the undeniable desires both had to see the other dead, surely. The rivalry that would grow between them from now and forever! What would they do? Proceed with the name-calling? Attack each other!? The possibilities were endless!

Without another moment's hesitation, the two had lunged at one another. They were attacking-- no. This wasn't violence at all. They were merely embracing one another, and, well, _kissing._ It was shocking, yet expected. I mean come on! The two dorks were obviously infatuated with each other.

"You're a terrible person," Elaris sighed in defeat, pausing the smooching session. "I-- missed you so much…" 

"I know," Nefarious cackled. "Me too."

Wha-- well, okay.

Qwark and the others stepped back from the observation window. An incredibly handy one-way mirror that had been installed not too long ago. Very useful for secretive interrogation watching.

"...Did you really have to narrate the last part?" Cora looked up at her Captain with probably the most distraught look ever seen. The Rangers all shared their own varieties of fear and disgust. 

"It needed a little more spice," Qwark smiled. "And _spice_ did I add!" 

"Yeah. Whatever. Next time you tell us not to watch an interrogation, I'm listening…" And there was a collective murmur of agreement. 

"Well! I'm glad a lesson was learned here today! Now! How about that meatloaf??"

"....What about Elaris, sir?" Stig glanced at the window again and recoiled. "Should we really let her stay in there for too long..?"

Qwark thought for a moment.

"Hmmm...we'll give her like ten more minutes. But until then, MEATLOAF DAY!" 

**Author's Note:**

> meatloaf


End file.
